Georgia high school students begin TEAM Success program

Published:
06/05/2015 4:09PM
By:
booner

Kena Torbert, Fort Valley State University’s family life specialist (L) and Philip Petway, Twiggs County 4-H county extension agent (R), pose with 2015 TEAM Success participants during the program opening at the Agricultural Technology Conference Center on June 1.

Before high school classes begin in the fall of 2015, 17 young people will have work experience and $2,100 in their pocket from a summer internship through Fort Valley State University.

The students are participating in the TEAM Success Program sponsored by Fort Valley State University’s Cooperative Extension Program. TEAM is an acronym for Teaching, Enlightening, Achieving and Mentoring.

For six weeks, beginning June 1 and ending July 10, students will shadow county extension agents, program assistants and other FVSU Cooperative Extension personnel. The youths will assist staff in activities and projects in areas such as horticulture, food and nutrition and financial planning.

“The purpose of the TEAM Success Program is to educate our high school junior and seniors of the opportunities that the College of Agriculture Family Sciences and Technology at Fort Valley State offers,” said Kena Torbert, family life specialist and coordinator of the TEAM Success Program. Torbert added that program participation exposes students to non-traditional job opportunities and professional contacts in their local area, helps them improve writing and conversational skills and allows them to acquire techniques to become productive citizens of Georgia.

TEAM Success participant Leondra McClendon said that by participating in the program, she hopes to become proficient in workplace ethics and learn how to become an effective communicator. The 2015 Peach County High School graduate plans to attend FVSU in the fall and major in business or family and consumer sciences.

To be selected for TEAM Success, students must be entering the 11th or 12th-grade or be a high school graduating senior. They must also live in one of 14 counties where a FVSU county extension agent or program assistant is based. In addition, students must complete and submit an application, hold a cumulative grade point average of 2.4, acquire three letters of recommendation, write an essay and submit the information to the local extension agent or program assistant. The materials are then reviewed by the TEAM Success Selection Committee where applicants are ranked based on criteria that include content, neatness and creativity.

For more information about the TEAM Success Program, contact Kena Torbert at 478-825-6573 or torbertk@fvsu.edu.